GLM1/GLM2/GLM3 Combo P1619 / 802.1ae (MACSec) GCM-AES/LRW-AES Cores

General Description

LAN security standard IEEE 802.1ae (MACSec) uses AES cipher in the GCM mode, while the disk/tape encryption standard IEEE P1619 uses the LRW mode. Since AES-GCM and AES-LRW share some of their basic components, a combo GCM-AES/LRW-AES core is not much larger than a dedicated core for either of the modes.

The GLM1 core is tuned for mid-performance P1619 and 802.1ae applications at the data rates of 3-5 Gbps and higher. GLM2 is designed for higher throughput up to 10 Gbps. Both cores use identical external interface, contain the base AES core AES1 and are available for immediate licensing.

GLM3 core is similar to GLM2, but its interface supports variable message length in the GCM mode.

The design is fully synchronous and available in both source and netlist form.

Symbol

Key Features

Small size: from 31,000 ASIC gates for GLM1
from 58,000 ASIC gates for GLM2

The GLM1 and GLM2 implementation fully supports the AES algorithm for 128 and 256 bit keys in Galois Counter Mode (AES-GCM) as required by the 802.1ae IEEE standard and in Liskov, Rivest, and Wagner Mode (AES-LRW) as required by the IEEE P1619 standard.

The core is designed for flow-through operation, with input and output interfaces of flexible width. GCM additional authentication data precede the plaintext in the flow of data. All GLM cores support both encryption and decryption modes for LRW-AES and GCM-AES.

Synthesis Results

Device Area Utilization and Performance

Representative area/resources figures are shown below.

Core

Technology

Area / Resources

Max Frequency

Throughput

GLM1

TSMC 0.13 µ LV

31,000 gates

250 MHz

3.2 Gbps

GLM1

TSMC 0.13 µ LVOD

52,000 gates

400 MHz

5 Gbps

GLM1

TSMC 0.13 µ LV

56,000 gates

400 MHz

5 Gbps

GLM2

TSMC 0.13 µ LV

58,000 gates

200 MHz

5 Gbps

GLM2

TSMC 0.13 µ LV

100,000 gates

400 MHz

10 Gbps

Export Permits

US Bureau of Industry and Security has assigned the export control classification number 5E002 to our AES core. The core is eligible for the license exception ENC under section 740.17(A) and (B)(1) of the export administration regulations. See the licensing basics page,
for links to US government sites and more details.